Quantification of Physiological Disparities and Task Performance in Stress and Control Conditions

In mental stress studies, cerebral activation and autonomic nervous system are important distinctly. This study aims to analyze disparities associated with scalp potential, which may have impact on autonomic activation of heart during mental stress. Ten healthy subjects participated in this study that performed arithmetic tasks in stress and control environment. Task difficulty was calculated from their correct responses. During the experiment, electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) signals were recorded concurrently. Sympathetic innervation of heart was estimated from heart rate (HR), which is extracted from the ECG. The value of theta Fz/alpha Pz was measured from EEG scalp potential. The results show a significant surge in the value of theta Fz/alpha Pz in stress as compared to baseline (p<;0.013) and control (p<;0.042). The results also present tachycardia while in stress as compared to baseline (p<;0.05). Task difficulty in stress is also considerably higher than control environment (p<;0.003)

The effect of chewing gum on physiological and self-rated measures of alertness and daytime sleepiness

The proposition that chewing gum can improve alertness was investigated via both physiological and self-rated measures. The Pupillographic Sleepiness Test (PST) provided a measure of pupillary unrest (PUI); a physiological index of daytime sleepiness. Chewing gum reduced the extent of sleepiness as measured by both PUI and self-rated sleepiness. Specifically, in comparison with sham chewing and no chewing controls, the chewing gum condition significantly limited the increase in pupillary unrest following the 11-minute PST within a darkened laboratory: a finding indicating moderation of the daytime sleepiness increase for the chewing gum condition. In addition, there was some evidence that chewing gum (relative to the no-chewing condition only) moderated the increase in a self-rated measure of sleepiness (Stanford Sleepiness Scale). However, there was no evidence that chewing gum moderated the decrease in self-rated alertness (Bond-Lader Visual Analogue Mood Scale). Although the precise mechanism underpinning the effect of chewing gum is unclear, the reduction in daytime sleepiness may be underpinned via heightened cerebral activity following the chewing of gum or the arousing effects of mint flavour

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 141)

This special bibliography lists 267 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in April 1975

Honeybee Associative Learning Performance and Metabolic Stress Resilience Are Positively Associated

Background: Social-environmental influences can affect animal cognition and health. Also, human socio-economic status is a covariate factor connecting psychometric test-performance (a measure of cognitive ability), educational achievement, lifetime health, and survival. The complimentary hypothesis, that mechanisms in physiology can explain some covariance between the same traits, is disputed. Possible mechanisms involve metabolic biology affecting integrity and stability of physiological systems during development and ageing. Knowledge of these relationships is incomplete, and underlying processes are challenging to reveal in people. Model animals, however, can provide insights into connections between metabolic biology and physiological stability that may aid efforts to reduce human health and longevity disparities. Results: We document a positive correlation between a measure of associative learning performance and the metabolic stress resilience of honeybees. This relationship is independent of social factors, and may provide basic insights into how central nervous system (CNS) function and metabolic biology can be associated. Controlling for social environment, age, and learning motivation in each bee, we establish that learning in Pavlovian conditioning to an odour is positively correlated with individual survival time in hyperoxia. Hyperoxia induces oxidative metabolic damage, and provides a measure of metabolic stress resistance that is often related to overall lifespan in laboratory animals. The positive relationship between Pavlovian learning ability and stress resilience in the bee is not equally established in other model organisms so far

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 212

A bibliography listing 146 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system is presented. The subject coverage concentrates on the biological, psychological, and environmental factors involved in atmospheric and interplanetary flight. Related topics such as sanitary problems, pharmacology, toxicology, safety and survival, life support systems, and exobiology are also given attention

Research Opportunities and Visions for Smart and Pervasive Health

Improving the health of the nation's population and increasing the capabilities of the US healthcare system to support diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease is a critical national and societal priority. In the past decade, tremendous advances in expanding computing capabilities--sensors, data analytics, networks, advanced imaging, and cyber-physical systems--have, and will continue to, enhance healthcare and health research, with resulting improvements in health and wellness. However, the cost and complexity of healthcare continues to rise alongside the impact of poor health on productivity and quality of life. What is lacking are transformative capabilities that address significant health and healthcare trends: the growing demands and costs of chronic disease, the greater responsibility placed on patients and informal caregivers, and the increasing complexity of health challenges in the US, including mental health, that are deeply rooted in a person's social and environmental context.Comment: A Computing Community Consortium (CCC) white paper, 12 page

Classification of Mental Stress Levels by Analyzing fNIRS Signal Using Linear and Non-linear Features

Background: Mental stress is known as one of the main influential factors in development of different diseases including heart attack and stroke. Thus, quantification of stress level can be very important in preventing many diseases and in human health.Methods: The prefrontal cortex is involved in body regulation in response to stress. In this research, functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals were recorded from FP2 position in the international electroencephalographic 10–20 system during a stressful mental arithmetic task to be calculated within a limited period of time. After extracting the brain’s hemodynamic response from fNIRS signal, different linear and nonlinear features were extracted from the signal which are then used for stress levels classification both individually and in combination.Results: In this study, the maximum accuracy of 88.72% was achieved in classification between high and low stress levels, and 96.92% was obtained for the stress and rest states.Conclusion: Our results showed that using the proposed linear and nonlinear features it is possible to effectively classify stress levels from fNIRS signals recorded from only one site in the prefrontal cortex. Comparing to other methods, it is shown that the proposed algorithm outperforms other previously reported methods using the nonlinear features extracted from the fNIRS signal. These results clearly show the potential of fNIRS signal as a useful tool for early diagnosis and quantify stress

Training and Competition Readiness in Triathlon

Triathlon is characterized by the multidisciplinary nature of the sport where swimming, cycling, and running are completed sequentially in different events, such as the sprint, Olympic, long-distance, and Ironman formats. The large number of training sessions and overall volume undertaken by triathletes to improve fitness and performance can also increase the risk of injury, illness, or excessive fatigue. Short- and medium-term individualized training plans, periodization strategies, and work/rest balance are necessary to minimize interruptions to training due to injury, illness, or maladaptation. Even in the absence of health and wellbeing concerns, it is unclear whether cellular signals triggered by multiple training stimuli that drive training adaptations each day interfere with each other. Distribution of training intensity within and between different sessions is an important aspect of training. Both internal (perceived stress) and external loads (objective metrics) should be considered when monitoring training load. Incorporating strength training to complement the large body of endurance work in triathlon can help avoid overuse injuries. We explore emerging trends and strategies from the latest literature and evidence-based knowledge for improving training readiness and performance during competition in triathlon